And so the adventure begins

I wrote this blog one year ago – and looking back it is amazing what God has done in 12 months! Around this time last year, we felt God calling us to radically change how we were living. And so we did. We sold our house, our cars and more than half our stuff. We moved to London. Mark went back to graduate school. By God’s grace, we’re living this adventure…

I remember sitting in Bible study two years ago reading through the book of Luke. In Luke 9, Jesus commands his disciples to go “proclaim the Kingdom of God” and tells them to “take nothing for your journey.” As I thought about these words, I felt restless.

We had recently built our dream house. We wanted this home to be the place where we would raise our family, where we would love one another well, where we would do ministry together. We wanted to plant deep roots, to be good neighbors, to work for the good of our city.

But I felt restless.

Jesus told the disciples to travel lightly. He tells them to take nothing. Talk about radical simplicity. Nothing in our lives felt simple.

Later in Luke 18, Jesus tells a wealthy young man to sell everything he owns, to give it all away to the poor, and to follow him.

Go. Proclaim. Follow.

Sell everything.

Give it all away.

Take nothing.

For two years, these words have been on my heart. The restlessness grew into a deep sense of conviction. We were not traveling lightly. We realized that when we built our house, we did not consider that God might call us to take greater risks in following him. When we built our house and our lives, we had included God in our plans. But they were our plans – and he had a different plan. A better plan.

For two years, God has put people in our lives who have in one way or another followed Jesus’ radical words. As we have witnessed God’s work in and through these friends, we have been inspired. Transformed. Prepared.

And so the adventure begins.

We are selling our house.

We are selling or giving away at least half of our stuff.

My husband is applying to graduate school to develop his gifts and abilities as a business leader for the glory of God.

We are hoping to move to London, to live with gospel intentionality in the greatest city in the world.

This feels like a huge risk. It is crazy. For so many reasons. And even as we begin the process of radically reshaping our lives, we have no promise that this will all work out the way we hope it will. We do not know if our house will sell. We do not know if Mark will get into school. We do not know if he will get a job in London. We do not know what our lives will look like six months from now.

But we believe this is the direction God is leading and we trust that he will work every detail out for our good and his glory.

As we begin the process of leaving everything we know, this blog will be about our journey. Let the adventure begin.

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Sara Brinton

sara@defenseofthefatherless.com

SARA BRINTON is a writer and entrepreneur with a passion for reforming international adoption and orphan care. She leads marketing for Noonday Collection, a business that uses fashion to create opportunity in developing countries. Sara and her husband, Mark, live in Austin, Texas with their four children, including daughter Gabrielle who was adopted from Uganda.

7 Comments

This made me smile. I know that feeling. We did much of this when we adopted Silas. We’re still praying about what God has for us but walking out where He has us now is what He’s asked. LOVE watching Him at work – can’t wait to see what He has in store for you!

Carrie

so proud of you and your family for listening to God’s still small voice and following Him where He leads. i am excited to follow along on your journey. if there is anything we can do to help please let us know. 😉 i know we can help by possibly needing some of the things you may need to part with as we just bought a new house and it is empty, we have filled it with love and not that we need lots of stuff but a few things to have would be wonderful.

I was reading your blog and thinking how great it is that you are stepping out. Then I saw London and of course that caught my attention since I am a Brit! Actually we are over here in the States now living in NC. We have been church planting since we were married but God has brought us back here at this time. I’d love to help in anyway I can. I never lived in London but I am from Nottinghamshire and lived in several other counties. Why London? Is one of you a Brit too?

Please email me if you need help or prayers or whatever. We are currently adopting from Uganda and planning to take a trip there in January….. we shall be stopping in London on the way, first time back home in nearly two years….. oh how I miss home sometimes!!

Sara

Megan, we’re still trying to decide whether or not to pursue another adoption at this time. We’re praying specifically about one little girl who is in Africa. We think the adoption could be done before we need to move, but we have not yet felt peace about saying yes or no. Join us in praying!